Stoptober: The Big Quit

How’s your Stoptober going? Managed to make it through the month so far? If you haven’t got the foggiest idea what we’re talking about here, Stoptober is an annual health kick conceived by Public Health England and led by the One You campaign that encourages tobacco smokers to ditch their daily habits and attempt 28 days smoke-free.

Whether you begin your journey at the start of October with timely aplomb or decide to take up the challenge mid-month, the idea is to get as many people banded together in unison to say ‘we’re going to stop smoking’. Since the challenge launched in 2012, almost 1 million smokers to date have declared their participation in the programme which provides support online via their dedicated website to all things Stoptober.

Find real-life accounts from those who have succeeded in their cessation as well as a host of top tips and products that will go some way to alleviating the withdrawal process. Sign up anytime throughout October and you’ll receive a step-by-step personalised guide to help you through the month. Additionally, you can download the Stoptober app to your smartphone which will enable you to track your progress on a daily basis, show you how much money you may be saving by not smoking, and offering advice and support for those times when you need it the most.

Endeavouring to quit smoking at any time of the year is naturally an arduous task, both mentally and physically. The habit of smoking tobacco cigarettes is spurred on by the addictive nature of nicotine and the added burden of up to 20% of natural sugars that can commonly be found in cigarettes. As your tobacco habit has developed, your body has, of course, become accustomed to the increased levels of both nicotine and sugar that you’ve been consuming, hence why trying to quit smoking is such an infamous venture to undertake.

Withdrawal of both nicotine and sugar mean that without any kind of substitute, you will more than likely find yourself to be irritable, irrational, and with a real craving for sweet treats. A sustained and habitual use of tobacco will ultimately mean that when you quit smoking, your body will have to re-adjust and re-balance itself to a more natural order, which in itself isn’t always the speediest of processes.

There are all sorts of products on the market that can help with nicotine withdrawal such as the traditional means of nicotine gum and nicotine patches as well as some prescribed medicines that your local doctor will be able to advise on.

A great tool to help combat the withdrawal of both nicotine and sugar is the use of e-cigarettes. In 2015 Public Health England declared e-cigarettes to be up to 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco and that vaping has the potential to help smokers quit.

Battery powered, an e-liquid contained within a pre-made cartridge or re-usable cartridge is then heated via an atomiser to produce a vapour that simulates smoking. E-liquid’s such as VSAVI’s Gourmet Range, VG (vegetable glycerin) based e-liquids are available in a variety of traditional tobacco flavours, as well as a range of fruity flavours for when your sugar cravings kick in. Additionally, VSAVI Gourmet Range e-liquids are also available in differing nicotine strengths, which means that over time, you’ll be able to reduce your nicotine levels to ‘0’ and become both smoke and nicotine-free.